Vol-au-vent

I have been following the French TV show “Le meilleur pâtissier” and a couple weeks ago, the theme was “puff pastry”. Inspired by it and in need of a quick dinner idea, I put together these vol-au-vent. I had some puff pastry sheets in my freezer, some chicken breasts, mushrooms and heavy cream and there you go. Friends have mentioned my recipe was not the traditional recipe of “vol-au-vent” such as any Belgian will understand it, but I made it with my favorite ingredients and what I had on hand.

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Ingredients:

• 1 pkg of puff pastry sheets (2 sheets per package)
  
• chicken breast
  
• mushrooms (fresh or canned)
  
• 1 medium onion
  
• butter
  
• heavy cream

Tools:

• Cookie cutters (3” round and 2” round – you can use a bit bigger too, but you need two different sizes)

Preparation:

1. Spread the two sheets of puff pastry.
   
2. On the first one, using the larger cookie cutter, cut as many circles as you can (I cut 9 with a 3” cutter). Repeat on the second sheet.
   
3. Then, using the smaller cutter, cut the center off the second set of circles.
   
4. Pick up the rings and using water, seal them on the circles from the first sheet.
   
5. Then put the smaller circle back into the ring (no water to seal).
   
6. Bake at 350º until puffed and golden-brown (about 10 minutes). Let them cool.

1. Dice the chicken, onion and mushrooms in ½ inch cubes.
   
2. Brown the chicken in a pan, set aside.
   
3. Sauté the onion and mushrooms.
   
4. Put all three ingredients back in the pan and add heavy cream.
   
5. On low heat, reduce the cream to have a thick sauce.
6. Fill each puff form with the mixture. You can also let the mixture “overflow” on the plate.
   

ENJOY!!!